F-22 Raptor (WIP)

Preparing the small Eduard PE structures to replace the kit ones

Moving forward; the bad joint between the PE and the plastic made me have to improvise with a couple of plastic strips. ?

Cockpit tub painted with Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black diluted with MLT and some Eduard PE applied; the main screens were painted by hand and varnished with MRP gloss; the masks are for them to remain gloss after the matte varnish is applied

Cockpit ready

Working the bits and pieces

I think I'm going to go with a base of FS36375 (MRP-038) and dark spots with FS36118 (MRP-040) - right side colors; lighter gray with FS16440 (H315); on top of the base colors, a diluted layer of Xtreme Polished Aluminium (AK 481); in this image I sprayed to much Xtreme, just to unload the airbrush; also learned I'll have to gloss varnish the base paint before applying the diluted metalic sheen

Inching forward

Terrible fit here, in the joint between intakes and fuselage

Closing!

Putty time! (Tamiya white putty + Mr Surfacer 500)

Some careful sanding required here

Still not good...

Preparing the large amount of bits and pieces...

Prepared for primer

Mr Surfacer 1500 thinned with MLT applied all over

Restarting the F-22: applying the base of FS36375 using MRP-038

Painting the darker color with MRP-40 (FS36118)… look too dark now

Applied base color (MRP-38) over the darker areas to make them smoother; definitely better, I’ll decide if further lightening is needed after some meditation…

Adding some “patches” that can be observed in the photos of the more weathered planes

Patches added, I’ll integrate them more into the paint further along

Some darker tones applied

A stupid drop of varnish crept here; some correction is due

Gunze GX100 gloss varnish applied, drying

Ready for the metallic haze

I applied AK Xtreme Polished Aluminium (AK 481) diluted about 50/50 with Gunze MLT all over; it's hard to capture the look on camera but the model retained the base colors but shines a lot now 🙂

I applied AK Xtreme Polished Aluminium (AK 481) diluted about 50/50 with Gunze MLT all over; it's hard to capture the look on camera but the model retained the base colors but shines a lot now 🙂

Trying to capture the metalized sheen on the surface... not easy to capture in the photos, but I like it

Masks off!

Smudging with Mig Prductions' Neutral Wash

Smudging with Mig Prductions' Neutral Wash

Weathered and again gloss varnished with Tamiya X-22; some decals applied using Micro Set/ Micro Sol

Masks removed from landing gear, weapon bay and cockpit

Working with the many small bits

Adding the final PE parts to the cockpit (the HUD is only dry fitted)

Final details

Finished

Ricardo Reis
Hello guys, thank you; yes, when I tested it it seems it will work well: first the base color, then the translucent metallic coat; it has the same effect I see on the real planes: in some angles you don't see much of the base color differences and then in others they are very obvious; let's see how it goes...

23 December 2022, 10:00

Scott Dutton
Yes, very tricky scheme, I mixed metallics with regular paint on mine

23 December 2022, 20:51

Desert Marlin
Same here…
MM and Metalizer. Lots of time with a respirator on…

24 December 2022, 22:55

Ricardo Barroso
It's going very well🙂 Do you have faced any problem or issue with this Hasegawa build ? Congratulations on the work🙂

30 December 2022, 15:53

Desert Marlin
The inlets for painting and sealing and then mounting to the fuselage were the only difficult portion of the build. Otherwise it was straight out of the box…

30 December 2022, 17:23

Ricardo Reis
Thanks mates; so far so good, the intakes have the problem of being in two halves, but they are curved, and they are only circular at the far end, so I didn't even used putty, they look ok…

30 December 2022, 23:02

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

31 December 2022, 04:34

Desert Marlin
Yep, the strange shape seems to work well in that regard.

31 December 2022, 15:43

bughunter
I need to follow if Ricardo starts such a nice build 👍

31 December 2022, 16:39

Ricardo Reis
Thank you mates! 🙂

31 December 2022, 23:55

Luis Cabeças
I'll want to see it after been sanded

6 January 2023, 13:37

Ricardo Reis
You will, I'll post detailed photos of the mess, as usual! 😄

6 January 2023, 14:18

Desert Marlin
That's the part I was remembering! Took my time around that part! Cheers Mate!

10 January 2023, 00:16

Ricardo Reis
Yes, well... I'll try not to destroy too much detail... I believe this is really the worst of model building... 🙁

10 January 2023, 14:50

Dominik Weitzer
nice progress

10 January 2023, 15:04

Erik Torp
Nice work! Following.

10 January 2023, 15:48

Ricardo Reis
Welcome mates

10 January 2023, 18:33

Desert Marlin
I used Tamiya masking tape on the raised "RAM" details to protect those…

10 January 2023, 18:44

Ricardo Reis
Yes, doing that also; this area is bad, because I can't sand freely... I've done one round of Tamiya putty + Mr Surfacer, but I'll have to repeat, only with Mr. Surfacer now...

10 January 2023, 23:43

Villiers de Vos
Your re-scribing is coming along nicely.

11 January 2023, 02:36

Ricardo Reis
Well, still haven't rescribed much, Villiers, just reinforced the RAM profiles with the scriber and sanding with extreme care... painful and demotivating work

11 January 2023, 12:55

Desert Marlin
It's looking great!

11 January 2023, 19:50

Guy Rump
Looking great. 👍

2 April 2023, 17:17

Shar Dipree
Very nice progress 👍
Which gun, nozzle, pressure and mixing ratio do you use to applied the GX100 gloss varnish?

2 April 2023, 17:27

Ricardo Reis
Thanks mates; regarding the GX100, it's very thick, so I dilute it with Mr Leveling Thinner a bit more than 50/50; pressure around 20 psi, which is what I use for everything

2 April 2023, 21:40

Shar Dipree
Thanks Ricardo. Wichtig gun do you use?

3 April 2023, 12:05

Ricardo Reis
@Shar, I use an old Iwata HP-C Plus

4 April 2023, 09:16

James C
Looking awesome 👍👀

4 April 2023, 16:43

Ricardo Reis
Many thanks @James

4 April 2023, 19:23

bughunter
Looks very nice already on pic 26.
Interestingly it seems to have some things common with the F-35 (for that MRP provides a two paint set MRP-280 CAMOUFLAGE GREY / MRP-278 HAVE Glass).

4 April 2023, 19:50

Ricardo Reis
Thank you for your kind comments @bughunter; I'm not using that combo, but instead I misted AK Xtreme Metal diluted with Mr Leveling THinner; I like the looks, but it's not evident in the photos

4 April 2023, 21:12

Slavo Hazucha
A pleasure to follow your step-by-step 5-th gen galore - very much like the approach to the surface treatment and all - somany angles to tape - but the job really pays off on the big canvas the F-22 offers on both sides - looks great already and it may just get better with the final assembly and treatment 😉

For the "raptor sheen" - maybe try taking some shots outside - real light does a way better job for capturing that than any interior lighting...

Cool topic and build 👍

5 April 2023, 13:17

Ricardo Reis
Thank you for you feedback @Slavo, much appreciated; this is a first for me and even my tests in a bit of plastic where not this large, so this is, for me, uncherted territory: I still have to do the pin wash and then the decals and in the end decide if I keep the gloss varnish, or a semi matt one; currently I believe the semi matt will be better, but only in the end I will decide; thanks again

5 April 2023, 15:20

Slavo Hazucha
Hi Ricardo - on my 5th gen project, I did not use a single varnish - i did a semigloss/gloss blend on most of the surfaces, with somewhat irregular patterns + outlined the dark areas in full matt - in real life this looks really good... 🙂

5 April 2023, 15:53

Shar Dipree
Thanks Ricardo.
I used one first two different guns from Harder & Steenbeck (Evo and Ultra) however, I didn't get along with the airbrush at all. After a lot of reading i bought myself an Iwata (Eclipse hp-cs). For me a difference like day and night - the change was like a revelation for me. I get along with the Iwata worlds better. Now airbrushing is a lot of fun for me. Only with glossy clear coat I still can't get along. 🙁
After a Harder & Steenbeck (only had problems too) my partner also bought an iwata and she is just now very happy with the Iwata.
(sry for my english)

5 April 2023, 20:25

Ricardo Reis
@Slavo, great idea, I think I'll try that also! 👍

@Shar, I bought a H&S Infinity airbrush but after one year failing to work with it, I got fed up and gave it away!!! I use an Iwata for most of the work and the some cheap brandless chinese airbrushes for the tough jobs, like primary or think varnishes 🙂

5 April 2023, 23:30